The group stops for a quick shop. Snow shoes all around. When they return to the stable to store some gear on their horses, they are met with a stable master lovingly brushing one of their coats.  You look around and note that the stable is all but empty aside from your horses. It looks like, once, it may have been quite large with plenty of stalls. But....as it is, it's big, empty, and quite cold.  He's thrown blankets over the horses backs that he's not caring for. 

He approaches you as you come in out of the cold, stomping snow off your boots and pulling scarves down to reveal your faces amidst the bulk of your clothing.  "Ahhh, hi there good masters. So...I'm not sure if you was planning on taking these fine animals further, but...if I could implore you....you shouldn't. With the ongoing winter and such, I'm afraid there is precious little feed for them. Usually they could spend time eatin grass or what not, but...everything is frozen solid and dead. If you tried to pack enough oat to feed 'em, I'm afraid it wouldn't last long. Also, these breeds here aren't suited well for the weather. Glad they made it this far honestly. They'd be in mortal danger travellin 'round ten towns. We can maybe keep enough supply here ta keep 'em healthy until you head south and out of this infernal cold. If yer lookin for animals that can survive in the wastes I could recommend the 'Macy's Outfitters' in the south end 'o town. They got dogs and sleds that are well suited for travel. Then there's also Gat's down there too. He's got Axebeaks, which survive up here just fine. Course I see you all just acquired snow shoes. Those'll suit ya fine if yer in for the walk." 

Mal desperately wants an Axe Beak for a mount, "Thank you for the information, you can keep the horse, and where exactly is this Axe Beak merchant you spoke of?"

Badger throws a sharp glance at Mal. Urgh! You can't be serious! Riding a giant bird? Have you any idea how jolting that would be? A dog sled would be a much smoother ride. And besides, if one dog should perish, then the rest can still manage to pull the sled, but if an axe-beak dies, you have nothing to carry you or your gear, unless you bring a spare axebeak. And I hear they are somewhat temperamental. The gnome sighs and rubs his nose. Perhaps it would be more economical to simply pay for passage to Lonelywood. Do we really need to purchase our own transport? Does anyone have a spare pair of gloves? When is lunch?

Mal grins at Badger and chuckles, "Well my mind is pretty well set on buying an Axebeak, however, I will make you a deal." Her blue eyes twinkling with glee as she says, "I will purchase a dog sled and team as long as you ride with me."

Kari looks intrigued. Axe beaks? I think I need a look at one of those. She thinks about what Badger said about buying their own transport for a minute. Maybe they just rent the sleds and Axe beaks out, like they do with horses at a livery stable. No need to buy our own in that case, but we'd still be able to take a day or two to look around.

Interested the group agrees to head south through town. You pull up your scarves, pull warm hats and hoods back on, zip up the top of your jackets, and...the last step always, pull on the gloves, and are ready to go, pulling open the barn doors and stepping out in the dark. The snow heaped up in the corners and crushed down to form a path between the buildings, there's very little ground to be seen. Between buildings where people infrequently go are filled with powdery snow drifts and piles of snow that have been shoveled from the main byways, so much so that the snow almost reaches the eaves. It seems obvious they must take snow out of town by the loadfull to make space to shovel more snow. Regardless you walk through the icy frigid air, looking like big fat piles of clothes, just like everyone else. As you pass by a few people in town, you realize aside from height and very rough build you usually can't tell anything about them. Goggles cover eyes, and every bit of skin is covered as folks purposely move to their next destination, leaving behind plumes of foggy air lazily floating behind them. 

The group quickly finds the two different stables. The dogs barking from within a long warehouse is a dead giveaway where to find the sleds, but the excitement about the large walking birds leads you all into the slightly smaller stables. The sign above the door is covered in frost, with a magically lit lantern hanging next to it, and reads "Gat's".  You step down a stair and into the building. Warm air assaults your cheeks and nose. You quickly shuffle in, shutting the doors. Boots stomp on the hard earthen ground just inside the door sprinkling packed chunks of snow about the floor. Gloves are then pulled off, hats pulled off, scarves pulled down and the tops of jackets zipped down as you go from comfortable to too warm in just a few moments. 

This place smells like a barn, unsurprisingly, with thick warm air. White feathers gather in corners and along the edges of wall like so much snow drift, except that they move and waver with each gust of air, stirring about. A long wide walkway is lined with stables. An Axe Beak sticks its huge axe like face out of one to fix a beady eye on you. Badger gets the unpleasant feeling that the creature is sizing him up. You can hear it scratch at the ground within its stable aggressively. 

A man emerges from another stable whose door is open, with a large rake filled with bits of straw and cluttered with white feathers.  "Ho there. Ahhh, visitors to our fine town. Welcome welcome, m'name's Gat. I'm the proprietor of this fine business. Lookin to buy a bird, or just curious....lots of visitors just come in to check 'em out. Keep your distance mind you. They're domesticated, but don't take well to strangers..." 

Kari cautiously eyes the bird with its head stuck out. If they don't like strangers then how can you sell them, wouldn't that make it difficult for the buyer to take them anywhere?

The man shrugs, "Oh you know, I teach folk how to handle 'em and such, and we spend a bit of time introducin ya so you all get friendly like. It's a bit of a learnin process, but once you get the hang of how to manage 'em you should be ok. Anyone with experience handlin horses or other animals should have a good start."

Mal grumbles with disappointment, "How long does training take, as we are in a bit of a hurry."

"Well now there young miss. All things in their own time. You don't wanna be out in that cold without yer animal. You could die." He pauses and in a more serious voice adds, "The cold will kill you it will." He seems to shake his head for a moment, returning to his care free speaking, "Oh yes, so, as I was saying, uh, doesn't take too too long. Maybe a couple hours time, and you'll be able to get out there without the animal trying to take yer hand off. People need hands after all."  He grins at her.

Kari reconsiders holding out her hand toward the large bird. That fast, huh? And how much does one of these cost? Plus tack of course, and food too, if they need more than what they can browse. Er, hunt?

"They hunt in the snow good nough for themselves. You don't even need to hobble 'em like horses. They're trained to stay close to the camp and such. In that way, they're much more suited for the weather up here. They use those axe beaks of there's to crack ice and get to the frozen sludge underneath in shallows and so on....worms, anything really. 50 gold each, plus another 15 for tack and saddle. If that large feller there would prefer, I got a sled out back, can be pulled by a couple of these birds. You buy the birds, and the sled is yours for another 50 gold." 

Badger gulps as he looks up at the huge axe-shaped beak, behind which are a pair of beady, unfriendly eyes, and even more than ever he feels reluctant to get anywhere near one, let alone climb aboard. Two birds can pull a sled? he asks with interest at Gat's suggestion. Maybe Kurik and I could both ride the sled...

Kurik looks at the birds.  He looks at Badger, then at the birds again.  "I suppose two would be needed for me" and then he looks at Badger and continues, "and one would be too much for you.  Makes sense to share.  That, and if trouble comes while we ride, you'll have both hands free to... defend."

Badger nods to Kurik in agreement, with a rare look of approval on his face.

Mal thinks for a moment, "So it looks like 325 gp for everything correct?" As Mal hands over the gold to pay for it all.

"OK let's get this training done so we don't lose Badger to one of them as a snack and then we can be off."

Mal passes over the coin, which the stable master takes, feeling its heft, and heads over to a bench. He spends a short time counting it all, then uses a key to open a drawer and drops it in, locking it and shoving the key into his pocket. 

"Alright, let's get to it then.  This here...he's the pack leader and likely to be your toughest customer as he feels like he's got to defend all his bird brained family. I'd say whoever is best with animals should take him, maybe have him pull the sled. I call him "Wack", cause that's the sound his head makes when he wacks it against something, which he does to warn off predators, or dangers. So, he does it a lot." 

Gat introduces the group to a total of four animals, including Wack, Scratcher, Plucky,, and Debbie (apparently named after an ex-wife). He shows you all how to saddle them and setup their tack, how to lead them without getting a hand bitten off and how to direct them while riding or using the sleigh. It takes a good couple of hours, but eventually the group is ready to depart with their animals. The animals indeed have a bit of a foul temperament (har-har) and Wack does indeed seem to want to look out for the rest of his 'family' as he continually fixes a beady eye on anyone approaching any of the other Axe Beaks. Its eventually time to depart, so the group does up jackets, pulls down hats, pulls up scarves, and finally pulls on gloves. Just as the heat is getting oppressive, the door is pushed open and you press out into the ice cold air.  The outside tells you each spot that some fabric isn't quite tucked letting cold air in, and the feeling of being stuffy is instantly replaced with the slow seepage of heat away from your body. You pull at the reins of your animals, walking them through the narrow streets and out the south gate. Riding around outside town will be faster than walking them all the way through the town.  

Almost as an after thought, Badger struggles to light the magical lantern which glows with a steady yellow light. Affixed to a pole on the sled, it lights up the sled nicely. Then Kari and Mal mount up, while Kurik and Badger climb aboard the sled. Without so much pomp or ceremony, you're off across the snow. The Axe Beaks webbed splayed feet hold them up on the powder very nicely and they have a strange bounding action different from a horse, and that will take some time to get used to.  When you reach the north end of town you turn your animals straight north across the open land. 

 The Axe Beaks and the sled make good time across the open tundra. The rolling hills are not perfectly smooth, and there can be challenging terrain under the guise of smooth snow, but you traverse the land quickly and eventually end up on a road leading north east and south west.....and continue following the wide flat path north east along what is so flat to the left side of the road that it must be a lake.  The blowing wind and snow stay relatively calm as you travel, the energetic ride keeping you relatively warm, though extremities remain numb. At some point you spot three white owl bears in the distance. They seem to ploddingly attempt to head in your direction but you outpace them and they lose interest, falling behind and eventually out of view. The lantern doesn't turn color the entire time. 

Eventually you begin to spot frozen wooded areas and then the road leads up to the south end of Termalaine.  The city is picturesque, even in the dark, though with starlight and a snowy landscape there is plenty of light to see by.  Spreading out from the shore of Maer Dualdon and bordered on the north and west by tall frozen pines, the town's buildings incorporate carvings of wizards, homunculi, tigers, and smiling djinn. You ride into the unwalled city. It's been a six hour ride and your butts, legs, and arms are all sore from the unaccustomed motion of the Axe Beaks, or the very long stand on the sled chariot. 

In the stables Kari worked with Whack, and decided he wasn't so different from some of the military horses she had ridden. Before leaving Bryn Shander she pulled out one of the troll hearts, gave it a couple of sniffs, and then ate it, offering the last heart to Kurik or the others. The numb feeling was very strange, but she was glad not to feel the cold. As they approach the town she turns to her companions. What's the plan for this town, do we go in or around?

Mmf mm-hhfmm hmmf! yells Badger into the wind, unwilling to expose his well-wrapped face to the freezing air. But seeing that the message didn't effectively convey, he draws his crystal ball out of a pouch with one shivering, fumbling, gloved hand, passes the other over it a few times, and conjures an image of a fireplace and a very large tankard, just in front of him on the sled.

With Badger's clear direction, the group moves into the small town. With the troll heart within her, Kari finds she's unzipped the top of her jacket, pulled down her scarf, and her hat back a bit, letting herself breath the cool air. This wintery world is actually quite beautiful when it isn't trying to murder you with low temperature. The air is still and everything seems so quiet. The huffing of her strange mount is the only real sound. The air itself seems to be holding its breath. The starlight glitters above, the white landscape below it is all dark blue and darker blue, but her vision beyond her dark vision is really good with the snow reflecting any light, and with few obstructions to cast shadows. 

The group moves into Termalaine and looks for the nearest stable for their animals, and bar for themselves. 

You find an old warehouse on the eastern edge of town with a sign over it reading "Stables".  You press open the doors and clamber in, stomping snow from your boots before quickly pulling off thick gloves, pulling down scarves and warm hats from your heads. The stable is not particularly warm. Dog begin barking as soon as you enter. The horse stalls seem half given over to dogs, the other half empty, and a few dog sleds sit to one side. A woman comes walking out. She had fiery red hair and a mischeivous look in her eyes. She smiles at the group of you, "Oi then, who're you lot and what do ya want?"  

Her name you quickly discover is Lanna and she seems to have experience with axe beaks as she brings them in, one at at time and stables them for you.  When you ask after an Inn or tavern she replies, "The Eastview is just across the street. It's the best Inn in town. Marta runs it and she does a good job. You ain't been to Termalaine before, but you should be warned, for the darkest half of the day, the people here surrender their warmth to the Ice Maiden to try and appease her. That means no fire, no flame, no light. Ya get caught and you'll get mobbed and beaten bad, or worse. I think you got a couple hours 'fore it's light out."